Chandigarh, December 14
The Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have termed the Zila Parishad-Block Samiti elections as “murder” of democracy. In a hard hitting statement issued here today, Punjab Pradesh Congress Commirttee (PPCC) president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring has accused the ruling Aam Aadmi Party of gross and blatant electoral malpractices during the Zila Parishad and Block Samiti elections held today, saying it showed it lack of confidence. Warring revealed that reports from across the state said that the ruling party workers supported by the police and administration had resorted to booth capturing at several places. “They have gone a step ahead of their mentors in the BJP who are known for vote chori”, he said.
The PPCC president disclosed that the AAP had picked up another leaf from the BJP’s vote chori book, that of not providing voter lists to the opposition parties. He noted that it all showed the panic and frustration among the ruling party, which was staring at an imminent defeat. If it had been confident of the people’s support, why would the AAP resort to such acts, he pointed out. Warring congratulated the Congress workers for putting up a brave fight against all odds, where the ruling party used all the muscle, money and the machinery of the state to capture the elections, in perfect tune with Manish Sisodia’s “saam, daam, dand, beid” theory.
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in Punjab, Partap Singh Bajwa, has also strongly condemned the gross administrative failures witnessed during the Block Samiti and Zila Parishad elections, stating that the AAP government has reduced grassroots democracy to a deeply flawed and discouraging exercise. Bajwa said the low voter turnout across Punjab is not accidental, but a direct consequence of what he described as Manish Sisodia’s ‘Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed’ model being openly replicated in the state. “When people witness pressure, manipulation, intimidation and blatant misuse of the administration, they lose faith in the sanctity of elections. Choosing not to vote becomes a silent protest against a police-managed and compromised electoral process under the AAP government,” he said.
Highlighting a serious administrative lapse, the Leader of the Opposition pointed out that voters in Bhairo Harni, Saidpur Harni, Haveli Harni, Raichak, Faizulla Chak and Mallian Faikran of Kahnuwan Zone No. 9 were wrongly issued ballot papers meant for Tibber Zone No. 8, resulting in a delay of nearly two hours in polling. “Despite repeated representations, the State Election Commission chose to look the other way, showing shocking insensitivity towards voters’ rights,” Bajwa said. He further stated that the State Election Commission, already facing a credibility crisis, failed to apply even basic judgment. “Conducting elections on a Sunday, fully aware of people’s religious congregations and social commitments, reflects how disconnected the Commission has become from ground realities,” he remarked.
On the other hand, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had stolen the Block Samiti and Zila Parishad elections in league with the State Election Commission (SEC) and the Punjab Police and demanded a judicial probe into the functioning of the SEC as well as its immediate removal. The SAD will also approach the State Governor and appeal to him to take action in the matter, besides taking legal recourse. Addressing a press conference here, senior leaders Dr Daljit Singh Cheema and Arshdeep Singh Kler said for the first time in the history of the State a ruling party had captured polling booths by using arms and weapons and attacked opposition workers and indulged in widespread rigging. “Many of our workers have been injured at Qazikot in Tarn Taran, Talwandi Dasondha Singh in Majitha, Naushehra Majasingh in Batala, Kingra in Malout, Madhir and Babania in Gidderbaha and at Dharamkot”.
Asserting that AAP goons had indulged in firing at several places in coordinated attacks and even used proclaimed offenders to attack the polling staff in Talwandi Dasondha Singh, Dr Daljit Cheema said, “Democracy has been murdered. The SEC has not only failed to conduct the Panchayati Raj institution elections fairly but has also become a hatchet of the Aam Aadmi Party. This has eroded the faith of Punjabis in grassroots democracy and urgent corrective steps are needed to rectify this situation”.
Asserting that the entire electioneering process had been vitiated as part of a planned conspiracy, Dr Cheema said the ballot papers were handed over to AAP candidates in advance. “Even though we bought the issue of release of the ballot papers by AAP candidate Amarinder Singh Madofal in Fatehgarh Sahib ten hours before polling to State Election Commissioner Raj Kamal Chaudhary, no action has been taken in the matter”.
Dr Cheema and Kler said the AAP government also prevailed upon government officials to delete votes in the elections. They said there were widespread reports of votes being deleted in Ludhiana and Rajpura to help AAP candidates secure victories. They also gave instances of ballot boxes not being sealed properly, as was witnessed in Majitha and the case of SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal getting the gates of a counting centre in Deon Khera in Lambi opened after they were closed due to an attack by AAP goons.
